Our Son, Michael
by Preston101
Summary: When six year old Michael Hodgins goes missing, the lives of everyone he knows are thrown into turmoil. Through the darkest times, Angela and Jack quickly learn who is on their side and who isn't as they are betrayed by those whom they thought they could rely on the most. But at the end of the day, one thing matters the most, finding Michael before it's too late.
1. The journey we had

_When Michael first disappeared, we were asked a ludicrous amount of questions by the investigating officers, all of which made it increasing obvious that they believed either Jack, myself or both of us together were responsible for our son's disappearance. We do not blame them, we have worked with the FBI for almost fifteen years, and during that time, we have had the unfortunate task of dealing with dozens of child cases and, as statistically proven, invariably the parents are responsible. _

_Despite this knowledge, I remember sitting there whilst being asked these inane questions along the lines of if we had gotten angry with him that morning, if he was a naughty child and just thinking, who is actually out there looking for him? I later learnt the answer - two. The police took it that seriously that there were two officers, doing door to door searches for my little boy during the first the first three hours of his disappearance, the first three hours that are the most crucial, the first three hours that, I remain convinced to this day, allowed us to lose him to the city._

_The questions which stood out were those which related to the morning: What was your morning routine? Was he reserved? Did he act out? What did he have for breakfast? What did he wear for school? Did he want to go? Where exactly was he dropped off? Could he have had any contact with strangers that morning? They stood out because I did not know. _

_Of all the mornings that I had not been with Michael it was the last morning where our lives resembled something of normality. I had had an early morning meeting and my alarm had not gone off, making us late, as was usually the case in the Hodgins household. I remember so clearly, kissing Olivia, kissing Jack and not having the extra two minutes to go into the backyard where my son was feeding his pet snails some lettuce to kiss him. I told my husband to tell him goodbye before I grabbed my keys and left. That being the last contact I had with my son that day._

_For this I blamed myself, for this, the officers also seemed to blame me. I could overlook this, I had to, I had to live with the belief that I was not responsible because if I had done, the guilt would have killed me. They also accused us of loving Olivia more, not wanting him anymore. I remember one asked me: "Why not just put him up for adoption? You didn't have to go through all this fuss," For their attitude, for their belief that this was a joke, for their failure to act we will never forgive and we will never forget._


	2. The family we knew

_Since he was a baby, Michael had been our entire world. He was bright, sweet, articulate, funny, loving and an all around pleasure, he was every parent's dream - he was our little man and he made our lives perfect. When our daughter Olivia was born in the November, our lives were completed and our home and family life had never been more perfect. He absolutely adored his little sister and the pair of them had been best friends from the get go. Temperance had warned me of all the statistics of sibling rivalry before telling me exactly why she and Seeley weren't having any more children because they had been lucky enough that Parker and Christine had gotten on. I didn't feel the need to point out that Parker rarely ever came round anymore. Seeley seeing him at the diner every other week and at his ball games, occasions she never attended but from the second that we had told him he was going to be a big brother. I knew we would be absolutely fine and we were. They were soul mates, I will picture him holding her on my hospital bed after she was born for the rest of my life, he just sat quietly with her, cradling her as though she were a precious diamond, it was the longest I have ever known him to be silent, whilst she gazed up with those large unblinking, brown eyes. We had once again been blessed with a child with sight. They had been infatuated with one another from the start._

* * *

><p>It was early June and summer was coming at an alarming rate, it seemed like only yesterday that I had found out I was pregnant again, that we were moving into our new house, that he was starting Kindergarten, I can still see him stood in the porch in his denim shorts with his stripy polo shirt and Batman backpack, beaming into the camera, he was so excited, with my swollen belly, we walked him into the classroom and after slight hesitation where he held onto Jack and myself, he was away, our baby boy out into the world on his own. He thrived. He made the gifted and talented register in every subject, but mostly he excelled in sports, something Jack and I were more than were used to. Whilst he had an aptitude for science and a love of art like us, he had been able to kick a ball for longer than he was able to walk.<p>

_That last day he made the second grade basketball team. He was so excited, we all were. Had you ever told me that he would never play, I would never have believed it. Because we were a normal family, bad things did not happen to us. Yet I could not have been more wrong._

"Jason, hold on... Jas... Jason!" Angela objected into her iPhone, rocking her daughter's stroller with her other hand, as the new intern on the other end rambled on about a fibre found outside the victim's apartment that was a similar colour to the sweater she was wearing when she was found.

"Look sweetie, I will check it in the morn... Well I'm picking up my son and I've got my daughter with me... Trust me it can... Well, no I don't want to jeopardise the investigation... OK, Jason I am 99% sure that this thread is completely irrelevant... I don't know what I would do if it turned out to be that one... I will be back tomorrow m... He has soccer... Fine... Ten minutes... It will take me ten minutes to prove you are wrong and if he misses practice, you can explain to him!"

With that, she angrily hung up her phone and shoved it in her purse, of all of the interns at the minute, Jason Brown was one that really made her skin crawl, not only was he blatantly stubborn but he swatted Michael away with a newspaper and said Olivia's eyes were too close together and nobody messed with her kids!

"He's a silly man, isn't he, Livvie?" She muttered to her daughter, thrusting her iPhone back into her purse. "A horrible, nasty and yucky man!"  
>"Bu bu bu bu," The eight month old babbled in agreement as she sat in the shade of her stroller trying to pull at the buckle on the strap of her White T-Bar shoes that matched her frilly white socks.<br>"What's the matter baby, you hot?" Angela asked, noticing her daughter grapple with her footwear. "You want it off?"

When she attempted to remove her shoe she received a tenacious screech that could only have come from a child of her husband as she tried to wriggle out of her Mother's grasp. "I'll leave you with them on," She decided, letting out a titter as she fondled her curls, affectionately, allowing her to return to pulling at her shoe.

Like a stampede of elephants, the doors of the school opened and children came piling out.

Immediately, Angela spotted hers, she watched as her six year old waved goodbye to a variety of his friends, she was surprised he wasn't accompanied by another child with the plea of a playdate, before surveying the playground full of parents before he saw his Mother commandeering the picnic bench in the corner.

"Mom! Olivia! Mom! Olivia" He exclaimed, sprinting over, waving a letter in his hand.

"Hey, baby," She beamed, opening her arms to him.

"Mom, I've told you, don't call me baby in front of everyone!" He objected in a whisper.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," She apologised, "I forgot,"

"I need to look cool!" He insisted, glancing over his shoulder to check none of his friends could hear.

She had to supress the smile and the need to cuddle him for the cuteness but nodded assuredly. "No problem, buddy, Mommy won't embarrass you,"

"Hey, Olivia," He greeted, leaning into her stroller and kissing her forehead before he did anything else. "Did you have a good day?"

She blew a raspberry at him as she beamed and giggled, kicking her legs happily at the sight of him and babbling.

"Good!" He grinned, before straightening up.

"What you got there?" Angela asked as he sat beside her on the bench.

"Read it!" He beamed, suddenly remembering why he had been so excited.

"What have you done now?" She sighed, taking it off him.

"Read it!" He demanded.

"Bye, Michael!" Came a call and they turned to see a little girl waving at him.

"Bye, Zoey!" He responded, waving. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Don't forget to ask your Mom!" She shouted before running after her own parent.

"Who was that?" Angela asked, winking at him.

"Zoey," He replied, grinning. "She asked me to be her boyfriend at recess because I can hang upside down from the monkey bars!"

"And what about Rosie?" Angela questioned, looking at him with a jokey accusatory expression. "Don't tell me that my son is a two timer!"

"No, I'm a good guy" He answered, shaking his head. "I had to call it a day with Rosie, she cried, it wasn't pretty, beside I only think she liked me because I have a baby,"

"You little stud," She stated laughing, shaking her head. "Now sit and we'll read,"

"To the parents of Michael Hodgins," She began, briefly scanning the letter. "Due to our observations throughout your son's performance on the Kindergarten Sport club, we believe in regard to basketball his skill, performance and maturity on the court and team playing surpasses that of his peers and seek your permission to place him on the Infant team this upcoming fall!" She read out. "Despite our usual policy of pupils below the second grade being unable to join the team we believe that Michael is more that capable of taking part and hope to make him a member upon his return to school in September!"

"DUDE!" She exclaimed, "That is awesome! I am so proud of you!"

"Can I join, Mom?" He begged, kneeling up on the seat. "Can I? Please? Please, Mom?"

"Of course you can!" She beamed, "Hi five, buddy!" She directed, "No, this deserves a ten!"

She carefully placed the letter back in the envelope and put it safely in her purse on the table and holding up both of her hands which he hit with his own.

"Oh, Mike, wait until your dad hears about this!" She stated, standing up and holding out her hand to him. "Let's go and tell him right now!"

"Can I push?" He begged, taking hold of the handles to his little sister's strolled.

"Push away, Mr. Muscles," She responded, waving him on.

"And can I get a new strip?!" He added, pushing the stroller as they walked out of the almost empty playground.

"I think we can sort something out," She nodded, smiling down at him.

"Cool!" He grinned, looking euphoric, "And I'm gonna need some new sneakers too, proper Basketball ones! Can we go tonight?"

"You have soccer, remember," She pointed out.

"We have to get a really cool one, I'm gonna google Michael Jordan's and Kobe Bryant's!" He continued, unfazed, practically dancing along the sidewalk as he pushed his sister with excitement. "I'm gonna get the same one as them!"

"Sounds good, baby!" She nodded, silently wondering if her dressing him in, to quote her husband 'fancy ass clothes that belonged on Instagram' since he was a baby.

"Mommy, I'm gonna make you so proud!" He continued, fist pumping as they reached Angela's Range Rover.

"You already do, sweetheart," She assured him, kissing the top of his head before unlocking the car and opening the door. "In you get, big man,"

"We going straight to soccer?" He asked, settling into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles car seat and fastening his seat belt as Angela buckled Olivia in.

"We just have to bob to the lab, that OK, handsome?" She answered and she didn't have to look at him to see his face fall, he used to love the lab, but unlike Christine, he hadn't spent a majority of his childhood there, Angela refusing to join the midnight investigations, unwilling to take him from his bed in the middle of the night. The final straw had been when Aunt Temperance had nonchalantly wheeled a dead body covered in maggots in, traumatizing him. He hadn't slept on his own for months.

"Why?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"Mommy just needs to sort something out but you don't need to go in, we can call Daddy and he will come out and you can show him your fantastic letter and get something from the vending machine!" She responded, making eye contact with her fearful little boy, relieved to see him visibly relax. "How does that sound?"

He nodded, enthusiastically. "Can we get Jerky?"

...

It had just turned half past three when Angela pulled up and, forgetting his Father's advice of playing it cool, Michael could not wait to tell everyone about his achievement.

"TJ! TJ! TJ!" He exclaimed, spotting his friend on the pitch and jumping from the car as soon as Angela had pulled up, almost dragging his seatbelt with him.

"MICHAEL!" She exclaimed, "You need to get changed!"

"I'm just gonna go... ooph!" He responded, slipping as soon as he'd stepped foot onto the grass and going flying.

"Oh, your brother's clever isn't he, Livvie?" Angela sighed to her daughter, shaking her head at her son who lay in a daze in the only small patch of mud on the entire dry field.

"Hey, sweetie," Angela greeted when her husband answered the phone.

"_Hey, Ange, I'm about to leave now, I should be there in 10,"_ Jack responded.

"I need you to stop by the house to pick Snoopy up some stuff," She interjected, jiggling Olivia on her hip as she did so. "He fell in mud and his clothes are covered in it,"

"_What a guy," _He laughed, _"Sure thing, baby, what's the damage?"_

"He needs socks and sneakers, his boxers are fine, shorts and a top," She summarised, "Bring him a jacket too – it's getting chilly and his hoodie's filthy!"

"_OK, any in particular?" _

"Bring him those Mesh shorts he likes?" She suggested. "The Adidas ones with the red stripes are clean in the Laundry room,"

"_OK,"_ He agreed. _"How's he doing?" _

"It's Michael, honey, be serious," She responded.

"_He need a shower afterwards?"_ He checked.

"No, I baby wiped the crap out of him when he fell, I'll do it afterwards, besides, the grounds dry,"

"_Good good, how's my little girl?" _He added.

"She misses her Daddy and wants him to hurry up," Angela replied, before turning to her daughter. "Don't you baby? Where's Daddy? Daddy better get his butt here, shouldn't he?"Olivia giggled happily, leaning back in her Mother's arms to enjoy the sun.

"_Give her a kiss from me; I'll be there in twenty," _He responded.

"OK, I'll see you soon, love you," She smiled.

"_Love you too, and give Michael a huge cheer from his Dad," _He finished.

"Will do," She affirmed. "Bye,"

As she hung up, she did just that and gave a loud cry of "Go on, Snoopy!" to her son from all three of them.

He turned round and grinned at her before running after the ball as they played a quick five a side before the warm downs.

Glancing over she saw two new Moms stood a few feet away from her, remembering how the other Moms had just left her to stand on her own on Michael's first practice.

"Hi, I'm Angela," She greeted, walking up.

"I'm Denise," One of them smiled.

"Kimberly," The other put in. "And who is this?" She added, smiling at Olivia.

"This is Olivia," Angela smiled, jiggling her daughter on her hip.

"She is precious, how old?" She continued.

"Eight months," She replied, adjusting her sun hat.

"Oh you've given her a pacifier?" Denise interrupted, sceptically; covering her mouth with her hand as though she had just witnessed Angela hit her round her head with her purse.

"Uh huh," She nodded. "Her Paediatrician recommended it because she just sucked on _everything,_"

"Who's your Paediatrician?" She asked, exchanging glances with her friend. "He must not be very good,"

"It's Dr. Anya Pulmoy," She answered. "You know the one with all the books,"

They mouths dropped slightly and before they could say anything else when Angela changed the subject.

"I've not seen you two around before," She observed.

"No, my son Gabriel's just started, Kimberly's son Billy and him have been best friends since they were babies, so when Billy wanted to join, Gabriel had to, too," Denise explained.

"That is adorable," Angela smiled. "Which are yours?"

"That's Billy in the red sneakers, _his Elmo ones_, by the goal," Kimberly pointed out. "If he sticks with it, I said we could buy him some proper cleats – he's so excited, _bless him_,"

Angela nodded. "Tell me about it! Their hobbies are so expensive! One minute is baseball, then it's soccer and then it's football, it's never ending!"

"And Gabriel," Denise pondered. "Is the really fast one next to the show off in the rather _loud _green cleats, God that kid has an attitude problem!"

Of course the kid with the attitude problem in the rather loud green cleats was hers.

"Attitude problem, really?" She asked. "And the Cleats?"

"They are about three different shades!" She insisted.

"And God yeah, he's just so aggressive the way he runs after the ball," Kimberly agreed.

"Isn't that the whole aim of the game? To get the ball," Angela responded, trying to reason with them, her patience wearing extremely thin. "And he's six, aren't they meant to pick awful clothes,"

"What Mother lets her kids choose their own clothes?!" Denise asked incredulously, scoffing.

"They are six, he takes it way to seriously," She pointed out. "He just _hogs _it!"

"Everyone does keep passing it to him," Angela stated.

"Well, we should be grateful we're not _his _Mother!" Kimberly tittered. "Anyway which one is yours?"

"The show off in the loud green cleats," She responded, jiggling Olivia on her hip in a nonchalant manner. "The one with the attitude problem,"

...

"Oh Michael," Angela murmured, holding the sneaker that her son passed her as though it may infect her. "They're..."

"Awesome?" He offered, looking euphoric.

"Awful," She corrected him, eyeing the electric blue Nike shoe with horror.

"Mom!" Michael responded in reproach. "No, they're not!" He shook his head, in astonishment at his Mother's poor taste. "_They're _awful!" He added, pointing at her ballet flats. "Aren't they, Liv?" He added, turning to his little sister who he held tightly on his lap.

"They, young man, are AGL's!" She counteracted, looking equally as outraged at her son's taste.

"They're made of the same stuff as the chairs on the patio," He pointed out, pulling the shoe from her hand for fear she'd put them back.

"They're made of leather with a hessian finish," She responded, poking him lightly in the ribs.

"They're still made of the same stuff as the chairs on the patio," He repeated.

"Don't bully your Mother, Mike," His Father admonished, laughing. "Here you go bud, they have one pair of size thirteen left,"

"Jack!" Angela sighed, "He's not getting them,"

"Chill out, Angie, they're a pair of shoes, you don't have to wear them!" He laughed, placing the box on the upholstered seat as Michael beamed from ear to ear before muttering. "Don't let some soccer Moms get to you!"

"No, Mommy, you can carry on wearing hessian," He tried to add in a serious tone, his voice breaking on the last words, causing his Dad to laugh as well. "Liv, look, they're my new shoes!"

"You two gang up on me and it is not fair!" She half laughed, resigning herself to the fact she had lost as she eyed the partners in crime.

"We're sorry, sweetness," Jack apologised, "But think of the potential, surely you can make such _statement shoes _work win an outfit…" He added, playing on his wife's imagination.

She glanced at them for a moment. "The blue would look good with grey skinnies… and a shirt… or his combat shorts…"

"There you go!" Jack enthused, "Why don't you go and see if you can find those shoes that were back ordered online?"

"You can get the same stuff as the countertops!" Michael piped up.

"Ha ha," Angela smirked, she stood up and pulled her purse onto her shoulder. "If either of you need me, I'll be looking at shoes that don't give people a headache,"

He stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

"Call me when you're done and I'll come meet you," She stated, kissing both of her children. "Be good," with that she turned and walked away.

...

"Mommy, we're over here!" Michael called, waving to Angela as she walked into the diner on the other side of the mall.

"Hey, guys," She greeted, walking over, trying to be discreet about the three full shopping bags in her grasp.

"I see you had a nice time," Jack laughed, handing her the menu.

"I did and don't be so curt, I bought things for you two as well!" She responded, glaring at him playfully, before rubbing her sleeping daughter's belly gently as she lay slumped on her back in her stroller.

"Oh please, dear wife of mine, do show," He insisted, waving a hand.

"Oh you first," Angela answered, gesturing to the Build a Bear bag beside her son in the booth.

"It's Leo!" Michael piped up, lifting out the box and showing her the lion.

"Wow, baby, he looks scary!" She said, exaggerated just that little bit.

"He's not scary, he's friendly!" He responded, looking disapprovingly at his mother's lack of knowledge of the Felines species' personalities.

"Oh of course he is, I just saw his face on the wrong angle," She corrected herself, flicking amused eye contact at her husband as her son carefully replaced his new toy and pulled out the clothes to accompany him.

"And look, he's a wizard!" He added, holding out the bear sized Washington Wizard NBA strip on the hanger.

"That will look almost as awesome as you!" Angela beamed, shifting her gaze to the menu.

"And we bought him some sneakers and shorts and a top for when he's on reserve," Michael continued.

"Well you know what baby, he is gonna look so cool," She stated and he looked delighted at her approval.

"Aaaaaaaand," He continued, reaching for the final item from the bear bag. "BASKETBALL SNEAKERS!"

"Wow!" She enthused. "Mike, he is gonna look amazing!"

"I know, I had Dad wait by the till so I could pick the coolest," He recalled before leaning over and whispering. "_He doesn't have much idea,"_

Jack swatted him gently on his back with the menu as he and Angela laughed.

"And we got Liv a Bunny Rabbit!" He added, before pointing to his little sister. "I made it for her, she's sleeping with her, I think I did a good job,"

Jack and Angela glanced towards Olivia reclined in her Cath Kidston Maclaren strolled, snuggled against the stuffed rabbit in question.

"You did an amazing job, babe," Angela affirmed, smiling at him before exchanging a proud glance with her husband.

"So what did you buy, Mom?" He asked, gesturing towards her bags.

"Well I got Daddy a couple of pairs of shorts because his others were _yucky,_" She stated, recalling his observation from the weekend before.

"They were!" He defended, "Sorry, Daddy, but they were, I'm only helping you because I love you,"

"Thanks, sweetheart," Jack responded, laughing as he wrapped an arm around his son and kissed the side of his head.

"No problem," He answered.

"And I got Olivia some of those Sophie Teething Rings she likes, the ones that taste like Vanilla," She continued, reaching for one of the bags. "And there was a nice little dress that was in the sale and some sandals,"

"And I got a few things for me," She added. "Now I was just about to leave when I passed the boys' section and found this!" She concluded, revealing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt to him.

"No way!" He exclaimed, practically jumping across the table to touch it.

"Yes way," She responded.

"Thanks Mom!" He grinned. "Look there's Michelangelo and Leonardo and Donatello and Raphael!" He pointed.

"And I got you a Spiderman one as well," She revealed, placing it back in her bag.

"You're the coolest," He beamed.

"So Daddy can't stand near you but Mommy's the pinnacle of trendiness?" Jack asked sceptically.

"Uh huh," He nodded, giggling.

"Well Livvie finds Daddy cool, don't you, baby girl?" He checked to which Olivia let out a loud snore causing both Angela and Michael to burst into laughter.

...

Michael was still demolishing his Ice Cream sundae when there was a knock on the window of the diner.

They all looked up to see Temperance and Christine stood waving before they headed towards the door.

"It's Christine and Aunt Temperance!" He observed.

"_Yay_," Jack muttered sarcastically causing his son to snort into his dessert and Angela to throw him a dirty look.

"Ehhhhhhhhh," Olivia repeated from her high chair, her face covered in mash potato.

"Jack," Angela warned and he immediately plastered a smile on his face as his wife's best friend's child ran up to the table.

"Hello!" She exclaimed, arriving at the table. "I want to hold Olivia,"

"Hi, sweetie," Angela greeted. "You can when she's finished eating,"

"I can feed her!" She insisted, trying to snatch the plate of food from her.

"Christine, you heard what Aunt Angela said!" Brennan insisted, walking up behind her daughter.

"I want some Ice Cream," She stated, turning her gaze to Michael's Sundae, which he promptly grabbed from the table and held protectively to his chest and scooted against his Dad, knowing he would protect his confectionary.

"I will order you one, if that's alright with your Mom," Jack offered, glancing up at his boss to make sure it was OK and she nodded.

"That would be very nice, thank you, Jack," She smiled.

"Sit down, both of you," Angela offered, scooting against the window, allowing her best friend to sit down as Jack waved over the waitress and ordered another Strawberry Sundae.

Temperance sat down in the space offered, pulling Christine onto her lap as she tickled her god daughter under the chin before turning to her god son.

"Michael, I'm so sorry I missed you earlier but congratulations!" She beamed. "We're so proud of you!"

"Thank you," He responded, puffing his chest out proudly.

"Why are we proud?!" Christine demanded, wriggling in her Mom's lap.

"Because he got on the basketball team for boys and girls that are two years older than him," She reminded her daughter.

"So?" She shrugged. "He can bounce a ball, anyone could do it,"

"Speaking of balls, how's Baseball going, Christine?" Jack asked, slinging his arm around the top of his son's seat space in response.

"I... I... I didn't like it," She stammered, caught off guard.

She actually bullied the other kids.

"Oh it's a shame," Jack sighed.

"It is, isn't it?" Brennan joined in, oblivious to his sarcasm.

"So to what do we owe this privilege?" Angela asked, all the while scooping food into her daughter's mouth.

"We're summer shopping," She revealed, "Aren't we, Chrissie?"

She nodded. "I want to sit next to Uncle Jack, you're too hot!"

Jack moved up in response, determined not to let _devil child _sit next to his son, the pinch marks took weeks to fade last time.

She disappeared under the table and Angela gave her husband a pointed look as Jack wordlessly lifted Michael over his knee to the other side of the booth to avoid her just as she appeared. "I need new clothes," She announced.

"Me too," Michael nodded, spooning Ice Cream into his mouth at a somewhat slower pace, grateful when Jack slung an arm over the back of his seat.

"Show Aunt Tempe your new shoes, Mike!" Angela suggested, trying to put him at ease, distracted, he lifted his foot onto the seat before pulling off his sneaker and showing it to the table.

"They are truly a sight to behold!" Temperance observed, glancing at Angela. "They suit you!"

"They're horrible," Christine stated, pulling a face.

"Hey, Christine, it's your Ice Cream," Jack stated, pointing.

"Where?!" She asked, turning.

"My bad, sweetheart, it went to the wrong table," He fake apologised.

"Michael give me some!" She demanded, turning to Michael.

He scooped out a spoon of ice cream for her.

"More!" She ordered.

"Please, Michael," Her Mother prompted.

"_Please,_" She practically spat as though the word pained her, causing Jack and Angela to smirk to one another momentarily..

"Ange, why don't you join them if they're having a girl's night out?" Jack suggested.

"I'll take the kids home,"

"You don't mind?" Angela checked.

He shook his head.

"Do you, sweetheart?" She added, turning to Michael who was staring at Christine in pure shock to see her practically eating the metal spoon.

He shook his head, gratefully accepting the spoon his Dad passed to him from his cappuccino.

"Well we might as well get off after Mike's finished, it's nearly half five, he needs a bath and Livvie's nearly asleep in the mash potato, someone needs her crib more than Angie needs to shop" Jack quipped causing the adults to laugh.

"Who's we?" Christine asked.

"Me, Michael and Olivia," Jack responded, smiling down at her sullen face.

"No!" She objected.

"_Oh here we go_," He muttered inaudibly.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Brennan asked.

"I want Olivia to stay!" She shrieked, causing a few inhabitants to turn round.

"Shhh! Chrissie indoor voices!" Brennan insisted.

Jack gave Angela an '_I don't want to be dealing with this' _look as their friend continued her 'let the children grow and become the person they choose' parenting that she had developed over her daughter's lifetime, resulting in a pain in the ass kid.

"Honey, come sit by me and you can say hello to her for ten minutes before we leave because she's getting really tired and it's been a long day for her," Angela reasoned and the five year old let out several angry breaths before accepting.

"Dad, I need the toilet," Michael suddenly piped up. "Will you take me?"

"Sure buddy," Jack agreed and they hurried off in the direction of the toilets where they hid for the following ten minutes until they grabbed the baby and left.

...

Angela struggled in through the front door and dropped her bags in the hallway before dropping the keys into the bowl on the dresser.

"Jack?" She called out softly, slipping off her flats and hanging her bag over the banister. "Jack?"

Walking through to the kitchen she sighed deeply at the mess, the Nesquik milkshake mix was still on the side, spoon stuck in it, the milk beside it, bread strewn across the counter with Daddy's typical late night toast party.

From the den, she could hear the buzz of the television and she walked in expecting to see the faces of her clan looking as innocent as possible as they tried to rationalise why the children were still up at ten o'clock.

She instead found her husband and son passed out on opposite ends of the leather suite as the classic Batman series, Michael's favourite, blared out.

She walked over towards the coffee table and picked up the remote, turning off the television before gently stepping round to her husband to gently lift her sleeping daughter off his chest and gently shaking his shoulder to rouse him.

"Jack, Jack, sweetie," She murmured and slowly he began to wake.

"Hey, Angie," He greeted, blinking wearily up at his wife.

"Hey," She laughed. "Why does the kitchen look like a bomb's hit it?"

"Michael – he got carried away," He replied, yawning.

"I bet he did," She smiled. "I'm gonna take him up,"

"You have a nice time?" He whispered as she clambered over to her son.

"She's a sweet thing when she wants to be," She tried.

"That bad, huh?" He grinned, sitting up.

"She started screaming in Osh Kosh because she wasn't allowed a bow… Brennan started rhyming off facts about impoverished children and then when she didn't stop…"

"She bought her the bow," She and Jack stated in unison.

"Of course she did," He muttered, shaking his head. "I don't like that little shit around my kids,"

She agreed in silence, gently bending down to reach her son.

"Come on, baby, bed time," She murmured, lifting him into her arms as he automatically nestled into her shoulder. "Oh I love you," She added, taking a moment to cuddle him closely. "Mommy's big guy, c'mon,"

"I'll be up in a minute," Jack called softly after her, watching Mother and child interact as she carried him towards the doorway.

"OK, hon," She answered, they made their way all the way to his room and just as she lowered him into his sheets, he roused.

"Mmmm?" He murmured, stretching out.

"Shh shh, bed time, sweetie pie," She murmured, pulling down his Spiderman pyjama shirt and pulling his yellow sheets over him before squatting on the floor and stroking his back.

"Have a nice time?" He asked, blinking up at her.

She nodded. "I've got lots of nice things for you baby, I'll show you them tomorrow,"

He smiled sleepily. "Can I wear new… for school tomorrow?"

"Of course you can, shall I put you out a nice outfit tomorrow?"

He nodded.

"Sleepy time now, I'll see you in the morning," She stated, kissing him. "I love you to the moon…"

"And all the way back down," He finished.

_That was the last thing I said to my son, there were worse things we could have ended on that night. The knowledge that I knew that Michael knew his Mommy loved him, kept me going because regardless of where he was, I knew I could have loved him no more than I did._


End file.
